“While we have relatively static third grade reading and math scores, we think the writing component is a real step forward,” Bennett said, noting that scores for third-graders didn’t change much from last year.
Overall, 3rd grade students increased their reading scores by one percentage point and math scores stayed the same.
“I am a person that doesn’t believe that static scores are really ever acceptable. We can’t be satisfied,” Bennett said, “and frankly I think the flat performance in reading is something we should take special notice to given our emphasis on reading.”
“We intend to drill into the data with our districts,” Bennett said, “help our districts come up with improvement plans to make sure we are improving ourselves in those areas.”
On a positive note, 4th graders saw a nine-point increase in the percentage of students scoring at 3.5 or higher in writing.
“The 4th grade writing results, I think, show incredible improvement,” Bennett said.
As Florida transitions to Common Core State Standards, Bennett said he expects to see improvement in all areas because teachers will be better able to meet “the instructional needs of students.”
Next year, students will again take FCAT 2.0 Reading, Writing and Math – then switch to the new Common Core assessments in 2014-15.
Students don’t need to pass the writing test to advance to the next grade. But, the percentage of students scoring at least a 3.5 – on a scale of 1 to 6 – is used to calculate school grades.
The results for 2013 show students who scored a 3.5 and above increased by 4 percentage points over last year, and those scoring at 4.0 and above increased by 5 percentage points.
Tell us the story of your biggest lesson, most surprising realization or proudest classroom accomplishment.
Are you a teacher who learned to love the Common Core? Did a professor help you understand a subject better? Or maybe your biggest lesson was how to navigate lunchroom politics. We want to hear from teachers, parents, faculty and students.
JMI's Bob Sanchez says the report released by the U.S. Census Bureau wasn't exactly an apples-to-apples comparison of per-student funding among the states.
As the school year is winding down, Florida school districts are looking ahead to next year and the additional funding coming their way.
Almost half a billion dollars is available to boost the salaries of teachers and other personnel. Plus, spending is going up by more than $400 per student.
Legislative leaders have repeatedly said “education is the big winner” in the state budget that goes into effect July 1.
But, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report this week that may have taken the wind out of some sails.
The report, Public Education Finances: 2011, found Florida ranks 42nd among the states and the District of Columbia for per-pupil spending.
A couple of problems with the report:
It’s outdated. A lot has happened with Florida’s budget since mid-2011.
It doesn’t explain where the money goes. How the money is spent is good to know.
The totals from the U.S. Census Bureau – including federal revenue – were compiled before Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature cut about $1.3 billion from education funding.
Since then, the state has put about $2 billion back into education, so Florida students may be faring a little better these days.
For example, Florida’s share of per-student spending is going up by more than $400 in the budget year starting in July.
The panel heard an update from Education Commissioner Tony Bennett on three strategic initiatives being carried out over the next year.
The initiatives are part of a reorganization at the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) that involves analyzing every position. A lot of job descriptions may change to accommodate the new initiatives.
For example, jobs related to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) will change as the FCAT is phased out and new assessments are developed.
But board member Kathleen Shanahan was less concerned about plans for reorganization and more interested in focusing on Common Core State Standards.
“This wave is coming to kill Common Core,” Shanahan said. “I don’t want to be seen as a board lost in reorg.”
“No one is a more aggressive advocate for Common Core than I have been,” Bennett said. “The department (FDOE) is going to deploy more aggressively than any department in the country on Common Core.”
Bennett says the following three initiatives are being carried out as planned, with FDOE taking great care to abide by state and federal statutes. Continue Reading →
The total K-12 education budget for 2013-14 is $20.3 billion. Per student funding increased more than $400 to $6,779, and $480 million was set aside to boost salaries for teachers and administrators.
Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a 3 percent tuition hike and a $14 million college building sought by Senate President Don Gaetz.
Gov. Rick Scott spoke to reporters this afternoon about his decision to cut $368 million out of the $74.5 billion budget sent to him by the Florida Legislature.
“In my case and my wife’s case, we didn’t have parents that could pay for higher education. So the cost of tuition was very significant to us,” Scott said. “I am absolutely committed to keeping tuition low.”
“This is not a political decision. This is a decision for Florida families,” Scott said. “Tuition cannot continue to go up the way it’s been going up.”
Scott said his “filter” in determining whether to veto each item came down to three questions:
Does it help families get more jobs?
Does it improve the state’s education system?
Does it make government more efficient in order to keep the cost of living low?
Scott said he’s asked university and college presidents to think about how they can make sure students get degrees that will result in jobs.
“When they finish, do they have a job? Could they afford their education? How much debt are they going to have? We cannot put our students in a position where they can’t afford higher education,” Scott said.
There’s been a question about whether Scott’s tuition veto is constitutional because it’s not an actual line item. He has to change the budget language that sets student tuition per credit hour.
But Scott said he’ll fight any legal challenge to the veto.
Gov. Rick Scott used his line item veto power to cancel the Florida Legislature's 3 percent tuition hike.
Gov. Rick Scott signed the 2013-14 state budget into law today. He also sent a letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner explaining his decision to veto a tuition hike.
“We are also holding the line on tuition by vetoing the Legislature’s recommended 3 percent tuition increase on our college and university students,” the governor wrote.
“I believe it is incumbent upon state leaders to ensure the cost of higher education remains accessible to as many Floridians as possible,” Scott said.
“Florida should be proud that we have one of the most affordable high-quality college and university systems in the country,” Scott wrote, “now also offering $10,000 baccalaureate degree programs.”
Editor’s note: This post was authored by Sarah Butrymowicz with The Hechinger Report.
Somewhere midway through his sophomore year of college at Florida Atlantic University, Christopher Clevenger started to question his aeronautical engineering major. He liked the coursework, and was doing well at it, but when he thought about his job prospects, the future seemed bleak.
“It would be me, a computer screen and a phone,” he said. “I didn’t get that human interaction that I craved.”
John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida
University of Central Florida education professor Lee-Anne Spalding uses an interactive white board to shows students how to connect a drill using coins to both math and history. Critics say education programs, such as the one at UCF, have few standards for entry and do not adequately prepare graduates to lead a classroom.
So Clevenger changed track. He was accepted in Nova Southeastern University’s undergraduate teacher training program. On a campus tour, talking with professors and seeing the level of interest they seemed to have in the teacher candidates, Clevenger was sold. He graduated from Nova in November with a degree in secondary social science and is now teaching world history at a high school near Nova’s Fort Lauderdale campus.
Although he switched from a tough major to one that has a reputation of being easy, he stressed that – despite what some people assume―the decision was not because he wanted to earn easy As.
“A lot of students see going into the education world as a fallback…That’s where you get the bad teachers,” he said. “It’s definitely not easy. It’s not something you wake up and do if you’re not passionate about it.”
A national push to improve the quality of teachers has focused largely on those already in the classroom, with the adoption of new teacher evaluation systems and efforts to help struggling teachers and push out those who don’t improve. But increasingly, reformers who believe better teachers will lead to greater student achievement are eyeing how teachers are trained in the first place—and finding training programs lacking.
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